The Silmarillion: A Screenplay, Part One: The Return of the Noldor

Introduction

I can't recall when I started writing a screenplay for The Silmarillion but the last time each document was saved was February 2010. I had just started writing in any serious way and I was experimenting with screenplays rather than prose.

I remember making the early decision of omitting large sections of the book for my adaptation. Any attempt to portray the full text in film would be a fool's errand. Besides, I wasn't really interested in seeing how the world was created or showing a potted history of the Rings of Power. And the Downfall of Númenor could easily be a trilogy of films in itself (or even a television series).

At its core, Tolkien's book is essentially a history of the Noldor, how they were a semi-divine race of beings who, for want of a better phrase, blew it. I see the Elves as Tolkien's most interesting creation and this has a lot to do with The Silmarillion. For instance, reading it helps you to understand why there is so much animosity between the Elves and the Dwarves. And you learn why by the end of the Third Age, the Eldar's time in Middle-earth is all but over.

I decided to split the book into a trilogy of films: The Return of the Noldor, The Quest for the Silmaril and The War of Wrath. I wanted to publish the three screenplays for anyone who is interested in such things. Each script is very much a first draft and should be read as such. Other than a general tidy up and a few aesthetic changes, I have made very few amendments to the screenplays since 2010.

I know that my adaptation is flawed. I have no intention of doing so, but if I were to work on them any further, I would develop some of the key characters (particularly Galadriel, Elwing and Huor) and change some of the narrative structure. But what I have distilled from the book is essentially three action films in the grand epic tradition. I didn't set out to do this but any casual reader of The Silmarillion will find that the text demands it. The book is chock-full of set-pieces.

As far as my decision to omit the history of Túrin Turambar goes, I felt at the time of writing my first draft that it was a little too dark for the scope of my adaptation. Furthermore, in contrast with the tale of Beren and Lúthien or that of Tuor's coming to Gondolin, the omission of Túrin's story arguably has little to no effect on the history of the Silmarils as a whole. And in the end, this is the story of how three little jewels brought down an entire race of people and literally changed the world.